Food shipped to Malaysian state

Food shipped to Malaysian state

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Emergency food aid has been sent to
more than 500 hungry families in the drought-stricken Malaysian
state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, The Star newspaper
reported yesterday.

It said a charitable organization, Yayasan Salam, had sent
rice and other supplies to 514 farming families in the remote
area of Ulu Bengkoka in northern Sabah on Saturday in a convoy of
10 four-wheel drive vehicles.

The food, sent to six remote villages, was expected to be
distributed yesterday morning. The group hopes to aid 6,336
families in the state, where food supplies are at critically low
levels due to a severe drought.

The newspaper said that while the exact number of drought
victims in the state was not known, there were estimates that
more than 10,000 families in the northern, interior and west
coast areas of Sabah have been affected.